mitchell



UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

V. N. MITCHELL, OF CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA.

IMPLEMENT FOR PARING HORSES HOOFS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17,441, dated June 2, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, V. N. MITCHELL, of Concord, in the county of Cabarrus and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Method of Paring or Dressing Horses7 Hoofs Preparatory to Shoeing; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, Vreference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of a machine which may be employed in conjunction with my improvement, the plane of i section being through the center. Fig. 2 is an end view of same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This improvement consists in dressing or paring the hoofs of horses and other animals by placing the bottoms of the hoofs in contact with a knife or cutter, which has an eX- act movement and is operated by mechanism.

My improvement may be carried out by means of a machine constructed somewhat like a common straw-cutter. It is such a machine that will be hereinafter described in conj unction with the application of my invention.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention7 I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a bed-plate, to which an upright, B, is secured, and C is a rectangular frame, which works in guides a, attached to one side of the upright. The frame C may be constructed of metal, and it has aknife or cutter, D, attached to its upper end, said knife or cutter extending entirely across the frame C.

E represents a metal plate, which is fitted in the frame C and secured thereto by setscrews I). The upper edge of the plate E is about on a level with the cutting-edge of the knife D, and the plate Emay be set further in or out from the knife D by turning the screws b. The upper end of the upright B has a recess, c, made in it sufficiently large to receive the horses foot.

F represents a rod, the upper end of which is connected by a joint, d, to the upper end of the frame C. The lower end of the rod F is attached to a treadle, G, said treadle having a spring, H, bearing against its under side,

, the spring H keeping the treadle, and consequently the frame C and knife D, in an elevated position.

The paring is done in the following inanner: The horses foot is raised and placed in the recess c, so that the bottom ofthe hoof (shown by dotted lines) will bear against the plate E. The frame C is then depressed by forcing down the treadle G, and the knife D will cut a slice from the hoof, the thickness of the slice corresponding, of course, to the distance between the edge of the knife and the upper edge of the plate E, and the thickness ofthe shaving or slice may be regulated, as desired, by adjusting the plate E by means of the screws b b. Two or three depressions of the knife will be sufficient to pare the hoof sufficiently. The frame and knife is elevated by the spring H when the treadleG is relieved from the hand or foot.

The common method of paring the hoofs of horses is bymeans of a small knife held in the hand or attached to a bit which is held in the hand of the operator. This method is disadvantageous, because it is difficult to cut the hoof evenly, the hand is liable to slip and injure the animals foot, and much time is consumed, because the hoof must be chipped off in small pieces; but by my method it is only necessary to place the hoof in the concavity described against the adj usting-plate, and then by one motion of the knife the entire bottom of the hoof will be evenly shaved. Two or three such cuts are suiiicient to pare the hoof, and the work will be done with the utmost exactness.

The saving in time arising from my method over the common plan is very great. Liabil ity to accident is also prevented, as there can be no slip of the knife.

I do not claim the machine herein described, nor any of the portions thereof in themselves considered; nor do I limit myself to the use of the precise mechanism described, as other forms thereof may prove to be more advantageous for the working of my improvement.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-f The reciprocating frame C, provided with the knife D and plate E, the frame being attachedto the upright B, having a recess, c, in its upper end, the whole being arranged specically as shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

V. N. MITCHELL. Witnesses:

C. N. VHITE, G. W. KEsTLER. 

